Chinese overtake Americans as top medical tourists in South Korea

The Chinese overtook Americans as the biggest group of medical tourists to South Korea in 2012 for the first time since the Korean government started compiling the data.

自韩国开始统计相关数据以来，中国游客2012年首次超越美国游客成为韩国医疗旅游市场的最大消费群体。

In 2012, 32,503 Chinese tourists came to South Korea for medical services, says a recent report by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. That represents 20.4% of all medical tourists.

韩国健康产业发展研究所(Korea Health Industry Development Institute, 简称KHID)近期发布报告称，2012年到韩国寻求医疗服务的中国游客共计32,503人次，占全部医疗游客的20.4%。

Americans made up 19.2%, with 30,582 visitors in 2012, the institute said. Japan, Russia and Mongolia followed with a weight of 12.4%, 10.3%, and 5.3%, respectively.

该机构称，2012年来韩医疗游客中美国人所占比率为19.2%（30,582人次）。紧随其后的是日本，俄罗斯和蒙古，分别为12.4%，10.3%和5.3%。

South Korea has been trying to find new growth engines in the service sector so it relies less on manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor.

韩国一直试图在服务行业寻求新的增长点，由此减少对三星电子(Samsung Electronics)和现代汽车(Hyundai Motor)等制造商的依赖。

Since the government changed laws to allow local hospitals to lure medical tourists from early 2009, large hospitals and cities have been actively trying to get more foreign patients.

2009年初韩国政府修改法律，允许当地医院招揽医疗游客，之后大型医院和城市一直积极尝试吸引更多海外患者。

Busan Metropolitan City plans to attract 30,000 foreign medical tourists this year and 200,000 by 2020, a sharp increase from 14,000 in 2012. The harbor city says it aims to become one of Asia's three largest medical tourism spots by 2020. Other such hotspots include India, Thailand and Singapore.

釜山市计划今年招揽海外医疗游客30,000人次，2020年希望达到200,000人次。2012年这一数字仅为14,000人次。釜山市表示，该市的目标是2020年成为亚洲三大医疗旅游目的地之一。其他类似热门地区包括印度、泰国和新加坡。

South Korea is well positioned to absorb rising demand for better health care and plastic surgery by China's growing middle class and Japanese looking for cheaper services.

随着中国中产阶级群体的不断壮大，以及日本人寻求较便宜的服务，更好的医疗保健和整形手术方面的需求不断上升，这有利于韩国吸引更多医疗游客。

According to the KHID's report, cosmetic surgery topped all other medical services in terms of growth rate. The number of foreign tourists who got plastic surgery in South Korea jumped from 2,851 in 2009 to 15,898 in 2012, representing an average annual growth rate of 77.3%.

根据KHID的报告，整容手术增长率在所有医疗服务项目中遥遥领先。2012年在韩国进行整容手术的海外游客由2009年的2,851人次猛升至15,898人次，平均年增长率达到77.3%。

The number of medical tourists grew from 60,201 from 141 countries in 2009 to 159,464 from 188 countries in 2012 — an average annual growth of 38.4% during the period. Income from medical services for foreigners rose from $51.3 million to $251 million in that period.

2012年韩国的医疗游客共计159,464人次，分别来自188个国家；2009年为60,201人次，来自141个国家；2009-2012年间平均年增长率为38.4%。这期间为海外游客提供医疗服务获得的收入由5,130万美元上升至2.51亿美元。

In 2012, 9,457 Americans came to South Korea to get treatment from physicians, and 9,833 Chinese visited plastic surgery doctors, representing around 62% of foreign patients using plastic surgery services, the report said.

报告表示，2012年到韩国接受治疗的美国游客为9,457人次，寻访整形科医生的中国游客为9,833人次，占获得整形手术的海外患者的62%左右。

Korea forecasts it will have one million inbound patients in 2020, accounting for $4.2 billion in medical-service income, according to the report.

报告称，韩国政府预测到2020年将有100万人次医疗游客，医疗服务收入将达到42亿美元。